Beneath the shade of the Sacred Tree, Rud sat with Elm on the dirt ground. Etched into the earth, the mage had created a bunch of words and symbols. The druid understood some of them, but anything that was too magical flew over his head. But that didn't stop him from doing his best to figure it out.

"Shouldn't you help with the orcs?" Elm asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Not much I can do about it," Rud said with a shrug. "I'm a lover, not a fighter."

"Fair enough… I guess." Elm scratched her head, looking down at the symbols she had already drawn. "So, where were we? Right. I've narrowed down what kind of Gate you'll need to construct, which saves us a lot of trouble. You just need to learn a few symbols while the Grove handles the rest."

Rud was once again reminded how tireless Elm was. He focused as hard as he could, going over the symbols he had to know and their importance. Elm was patient with him, reinforcing the concepts of those symbols until they were burned into the druid's skull. It still took longer than he was willing to admit for it to click.

"I get it," Rud said after a few hours of study. He went rigid as the last piece clicked in his mind. "You're right. This is extremely easy stuff."

"That's what I've been trying to say." Elm sagged, tipping over backwards to rest on her back. "Teaching you anything related to magic is a pain. I've met warriors with more arcane potential than you."

"Arcane magic is hard, dude!" Rud shouted. "Druidic magic is all about loving squirrels, saving the environment, and eating questionable mushrooms. Arcane magic is about working hard and learning stuff. Yuck."

"Don't be so dramatic," Elm said. Yet she didn't get up from her position on the ground.

Rud joined her, relaxing on the ground to look up at the beautiful flowers above. Looking at Ban's flowers had a way of relaxing him. The wind blew, swaying the branches and creating a pleasant sound that radiated in the druid's soul. He could feel the energy of the wind moving through, as it left behind a streak of faint magic. With Elm's lesson weighing heavily on his mind, he didn't want to get up. He wanted to waste the day away below those branches, the talented elf nearby. Both dozed off a few times over the next hour, the occasional snore waking the other.

Elm sprung to her feet, blinking away her tiredness. "Okay. I need to move around or I'll fall asleep," she said. "I'll be around if you need anything."

Rud waved as Elm headed off to the rest stop to do whatever it was mages did. The druid now had some work to do. His thoughts went back to when Basil had teleported him over to Cliffs of Mog and knew his process would be different. The current plan was to build a permanent structure he could use to do his item teleportations. Gladesbale couldn't hope to match the other Grove for sheer power, but they could be clever about how they designed their Gate.

"Let's see," Rud said, licking his finger and putting it into the air.

"What's the problem?" Ban asked.

"We gotta find a spot with some decent magic," Rud said, speaking through their link. The air was basically a cloud of magic. A man couldn't swing a squirrel without hitting a collection of potent druidic energy.

"Pick a spot, any spot!" Ban said.

"You're feeling cheery," Rud said, walking off in a direction that felt promising. He didn't have much to go off of except the instructions he had been told by Elm. The spot he needed to select for the Gate required conditions that were just right. And those conditions were judged based on feel. "The confluence of magic in an area is important, but I need a place where your roots are central. Elm told me about how the magic is gonna rush in, so we need maximum bandwidth."

"There are several lines you could take advantage of," Ban said. In Rud's vision, he saw glowing lines appear on the ground. "I'd pick that one. That draws the most energy from around the network and it has a direct line to our new building."

Rud rubbed his fingers together. The area they picked was on the western side of the clearing. There was a nice platform already built near the road, so he got to work right away. Bigger might've been better, but the larger this Gate was, the more power they would need to keep it running. The druid made the rough outline of the archway, forming it from a nearby tree he had grown with his new powers. The tree made a potent base, and working with it was a pleasure.

"What a fine tree," Rud said, standing back to inspect the base of the arch. This version of the Gate would only allow small things through, so he only built it about up to his waist. They could slide some boxes through without an issue, but if any person wouldn't go through they'd have to crawl on their hands and knees. "And that was the easy part…"

Using the Shape Plant spell to etch stuff into the surface of plants had become an art for Rud. His nose was practically pressed against the arch as he scratched the sigils in. This was only possible because Elm had drawn them out for him on sheets of paper. They were quite easy to draw on paper, but the druid found them hard to impress into wood. It took several attempts to get them looking even remotely good, but when he stood back, they still seemed slightly wrong.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Keep trying," Ban said, her comfort soothing him. "This style of magic is alien to you. I wouldn't expect you to get it on the first try."

"How do we test it?" Rud asked, leaning close to see the minor imperfections in the sigils caused by the grain of the wood.

"I'll hit it with a minor jolt of my energy. If you made them correctly, the sigils will glow."

That was easy enough. Rud got back to it, using his spells to smooth the surface once again. When he was finished etching the sigils yet again. When he stepped back this time, they looked more correct than last time. But he knew it wasn't quite there.

"Give her some juice, Ban," Rud said, squinting as he stood back.

"Juice incoming," Ban said, her voice radiating through Rud's mind.

The druid watched as power flowed from the base of the archway, snaking its way through the roots and into the structure. Like water, the energy soaked into the sigils. Some symbols glowed while others didn't.

"Where did I go wrong?" Rud asked, leaning in to inspect his work. "Is this seriously what mages do with their time?"

"Yeah, it really is. They sit in stuffy towers all day and read books. Yuck," Ban said. "There are a few things the Groves support that use arcane magic. This is one of them."

"Lame. We should have a way to teleport between the groves," Rud said.

"There might be a way," Ban said. "But you'd have to become the world's foremost expert on Plant Magic to accomplish that."

Rud felt a pose coming on, and shook his limbs out. He thrust his staff into the air, striking the most heroic pose he could think of. "I have worked with arcane sigils for exactly five minutes and I hate it. Therefore, I shall become the world's best Plant Magic user! Even better than Basil!"

"To be fair, Basil has a specialization in Construction Magic, which is slightly different," Ban said. "But your grand proclamation isn't lost on me, little one."

"This arcane magic just really isn't working with me," Rud said with a shrug. Still, he got back to work on the sigils. Another two hours went by before Elm came to check on him. Ban or Mint must've told her where he was, because she approached with a broad smile on her face.

"Having some trouble?" she asked, sauntering over.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it," Rud said, his shoulders slumping. "I stink at wizard magic."

Elm laughed, slapping him on the back as she looked over his work. "This isn't bad for your first time. People spend their lives studying stuff like this and still fail. Your main issue is the positioning. Here, let me guide you through it."

Rud wasn't sure what they would do without someone like Elm around. This whole plan would fall through, and he had to make sure she knew they appreciated her help. There was a big pile of enchanted metals waiting for her if she wanted it. Or maybe some gems? He suspected Taz was hiding a bunch of gems, so the druid would need to pilfer those stores when he had a chance.

Elm was extremely skilled at the runework. Her ability to understand the complex interaction between each one was on display right away. She guided him through the process, directing each line he made into the wood, and correcting him when he got something wrong. Even with her help, it was night before they got it working. Both stepped back, waiting for Ban to send yet another flash of mana through the arrangement.

"That should do it," Elm said, clasping her hands together. "I hope…"

Energy gathered at the base again, flowing over the bottom of the archway before working its way up the top. Rud watched as each sigil filled with magical energy, glowing faintly in the darkness of the night. He counted them off aloud as they went, gritting his teeth as it got to the final three. Each lit successfully before energy gathered in the Gate's center. Then it fizzled out, the power that had gathered in the center crackling until it vanished.

"We did it!" Elm shouted! Jumping into the air. She turned, pulling Rud into a big hug. "The amount of mana required even to activate those sigils is absurd! You're an absolute monster, Ban!"

"Yes, I know," Ban said, her giggle filling the clearing.

Elm hit the deck, clutching her head.

"Whoops. Sorry."

"Ban said she's sorry for scrambling your brain," Rud said, helping Elm to her feet. "She forgets that you mortals are so squishy."

"Feels like a psychic attack," Elm said, keeping one eye closed. "If she wasn't so beautiful, I'd be afraid of her."

"I think we should still be afraid of her, no matter how gorgeous she is," Rud said, turning to wink at the tree. "Come on. We gotta go get some food. I'm absolutely starving!"

The duo left the archway where it was. Rud wanted to do some test runs on the Gate before he sent stuff through it, and now wasn't the right time. He'd need the cooperation of another grove, likely Maria's. For now, he could only think of the scent of roasted meat he smelled on the air. He followed his nose to the longhouse, Elm following close behind him.

"Fresh tea," Elm said, dancing over to the table and falling into her seat. She didn't seem to notice the gaggle of other adventurers there, and poured herself a large cup of tea.

"Fresh meat!" Rud shouted, rushing over to pluck some meat from the fire.

"I ran some supplies over to the other adventurers like you asked," Taz said, appearing from behind a group of adventurers. "Snacks, meat, cheese, milk. You know."

"I might've forgotten that I asked you to do that. Thanks," Rud said, offering only a weak smile. He loaded up on a lot of roasted mushrooms and a good amount of meat. "No tea for me, though. I'd like to fall asleep within the next month."

Elm drank deeply from her tea mug. "Not me," she said with a contented sigh. "I'll stay awake for a year if I need to. These magical anomalies are just too interesting."

"Don't forget the roasted meat, Elmera," Rud said, poking a fork at the smoldering fire. "Taz is very good at roasting meat."

"That's right. Best in the Grove," Taz said.

Elm glared at Rud, shaking her head. "Don't call me that. But I will accept a big pile of meat. What kind are we having tonight?"

"Mystery meat!" Taz shouted.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.